Rob calls from the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia to discuss the lingo of crabbing. A male blue crab is a jimmy, and a female is called a sook, a silk, or sow. A crab that’s unsuitable for market because its flesh isn’t firm, it’s...
Anna, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, wonders if it’s okay to pronounce the word measure as ‘meɪʒər (rhyming with “hey sure”) instead of ‘mɛʒər (rhyming with “treasure”). This pronunciation is...
A Bay Area listener says she always giggles when she sees a sign in the Oakland airport that reads, “You are leaving a sterile area.” Among security experts, the term sterile specifically means an area that is officially under control...
Scobolotch is a term used in Wisconsin for the mayfly that may derived from a Native American language. Variants include scobblotcher and skoplotch. This short-lived insect goes by many other names, including Green Bay fly and Canadian soldier. This...
academic steroid n.— «When she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a sophomore at UC Berkeley, Ashley welcomed her prescription for the amphetamine Adderall. Juggling a full load of classes with athletic...
cycluter
n.— «Cycle+commuter = cycluter. “Cycluter” is a new word for bike commuter.» —Bay State Cycluters (Beverly, Massachusetts) Jan. 28, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)